Derpy's Little Muffin
by ivanclaysburgh
Summary: An origin story about where Derpy found Dinky and what she is willing to do to protect her from any harm.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: A MOTHER'S WORST NIGHTMARE

The sun had long set behind the rolling mountains of Equestria. Derpy sat in the red comforter reading to Dinky her favorite bedtime story. Halfway through, she saw Dinky's eyes growing heavy as her little head started to nod off to sleep. She closed the book and gently scoop the tiny filly into her hooves, carrying her to her bedroom.

Dinky's room was nothing to show, but it certainly had thought put into it. White painted clouds adorned the cyan-colored wallpaper and paper pegasus strode along the dresser; a nice little touch that Derpy added. Being as quietly as she could, the grey pegasus try to carry the little unicorn to her bed. It was long before she started feeling Dinky's yellow mane rustle against her shoulder and begin to stir awake.

"Sorry, Muffin," whispered Derpy. "Did I wake you?"

"No," cooed Dinky, rubbing her eyes with her hoof as her mother tucked her underneath the sheets. "Mommy... how come you never talk about Daddy?"

Derpy stopped in mid-fold as the little filly laid wrapped in the blanket, her large golden eyes staring intently up at her.

"Well, Muffin," began Derpy as she looked for the right words to explain to her five-year-old filly. "I guess the reason I don't is because there isn't much that I can say about him. I never knew him very well."

"But what was he like?"

Derpy hesitated. She didn't want to confess the truth to Dinky, that she didn't know who Dinky's parents were. That she was just an abandoned foal left to die in a dumpster those five years ago when Derpy first found her. She didn't need to hear that story. Even now, just thinking about it made Derpy want to cry.

She looked at the little pink unicorn with a smile and answered: "I suppose your daddy was very noble and courageous. If he only knew how precious and wonderful you were, I'm certain he would be here right now."

This made Dinky smile. She let out a great big yawn and nestled further into the covers. "Thank you, Mommy."

The grey pegasus stroked the little filly's yellow mane until she was sound asleep. "Goodnight, Muffin."

_Derpy found herself soaring high above the clouds, her mail pouch slung around her back. The sky was a margarine orange from the last light of sun sinking in the horizon as wisps of clouds flew past her almost like tongues of fire._

_ She should be home at this time. She should be reading to Dinky and getting her ready for bed. She glanced down and noticed she still had at least fifty letters to deliver. She quickened her speed as she tried to make it to Cloudsdale before the sun disappeared. For some reason, the mail felt unusually heavy today for her..._

_ When she glanced again, there were now a hundred letters. _

_ That's impossible, Derpy thought, I was certain there were fifty letters. She shook her head with disbelief. Maybe I miscounted, she chuckled to herself and checked again to be certain._

_ There were now 250 letters._

_ Derpy's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. To her surprise, her mail pouch was growing larger and larger with more and more letters. She began to feel the weight of the letters pulling her down from the sky. The more she tried flapping her wings, the heavier the pouch became on her back. _

_ She started to descend from the sky... more like falling. Her wings were no longer able to support her. She landed on the ground with a large thud, her face kicking up a mound of dirt from the impact. When she regained her consciousness, the pouch had grown five times as big as her. She tried to budge from the weight of the bag, but found it impossible. She was pinned down._

_ Suddenly, a voice started crying out. It was a voice she knew so dear to her. "MOMMY!"_

_ Dinky! _

_ Derpy found herself in her house... No, she wasn't in her house, but she could see what was going on at that very moment. She saw Dinky, her sweet, dear unicorn. Hiding underneath a bureau dresser, trembling with fear._

_ Derpy didn't know what was wrong. She wanted to fly over, wrap her inside her wings and comfort her daughter... but could barely move from the heavy mailbag crushing on top of her... _

_ Then she saw what Dinky was hiding from._

_ Standing there by the door was a black, ominous creature of gigantic size Its long, slender coils lashing about in a mad frenzy, its large form filling up the room. It was a horrifying sight. Although she could not see its face, Derpy could feel the cunning evil of its green eyes... Glaring at her Dinky._

_ Derpy's heart began racing like a leaf shaken by a storm. She tried to wedge herself from from the bag, but without success. _

_ THRASH! _

_ The creature smacked away the dresser, exposing the shivering Dinky in plain sight. The little unicorn's eyes bulged with terror as the monster slinked its way over to her, its long coils reaching out for her. In one quick swoop, the monster grabbed the terrified filly, squeezing her tightly within its coils. _

_ Dinky's eyes streamed with tears as she cried out, "MOMMY, HELP ME!"_

_ Derpy tried to cry out to her but found her lungs were getting crushed with every second the bag weighed down on her. She watched, helpless as the monster's coils began to choke the life out of Dinky, her cries growing fainter and fainter... Its arm extending over to its gapping mouth, ready to swallow to tiny filly..._

"NNOOOOOOOOO!"

Derpy bolted up from her bed, her mane drenched with sweat. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she found herself alone. She was in her bedroom. She checked her back, but found there was no large mailbag overflowing with letters.

She was able to regain her breathing, no longer feeling crushed. But her own safety was far from her mind.

Where was Dinky?

She zoomed out of her bedroom and into her daughter's room. She found the little unicorn, sound asleep in the sheets of her bed. Derpy had to make sure she still wasn't dreaming. She flew over to the bedside and with her hoof, gently touched the snoozing unicorn on her shoulder. She was real! She was alive. She was safe. Derpy felt a sudden and overwhelming joy sweep over her. In the midst of all this confusion, all of this worry, she truly felt Dinky's life was in danger.

She began to cry.

Her sobs started to stir Dinky awake. Derpy tried to stop herself, but found it pointless. The more she tried stifling her tears, the louder her gasps became. Soon, the little filly was awake and saw her mother standing by her bed, crying.

"Mommy," whimpering Dinky, her eyes wild with confusion and fear. "Why are you crying?"

Derpy's heart leap when she heard Dinky's voice break like that. To hear her daughter's voice was more than she could bare. She pulled the little unicorn out from her bed and held her against her as tightly as she could. She wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen to her.

Derpy's tears began to fall on Dinky's mane, which made the little filly even more terrified of something bad was going on. She too began to cry.

"Mommy..." weeped the little unicorn, her hooves wrapping around Derpy's neck. "Please... I'm scared..."

Derpy finally was able to calm down to realize what she was doing. She lowered Dinky back down onto her bed and looked at her. Dinky's eyes were glistened with tears as they looked to their mother for some kind of resolution. Some kind of reassurance.

"I'm sorry, Muffin," whispered Derpy. "Just a bad dream. That's all."

These were not the words of comfort that Dinky was looking for. The little filly started to cry even more, burying her face into her tiny hooves. Derpy panicked as she found her daughter becoming hysterical. She placed the crying filly on her lap like she use to when Dinky was only a tiny foal and started to sing:

"_Fifteen, fifteen she said to me,_

"_Fifteen muffins is all I'll need,_

"_To bring them home, to bring them home_

"_To my filly, what joy they'll bring."_

Although she never could carry a tune, Derpy did her best to make the song sound merry and cheerful. She glanced down at Dinky again. The little filly had simmered down enough to dry her eyes and was smiling up at her mother. Derpy's songs, no matter how nonsensical they were, never failed at calming Dinky down when she was upset or frightened. The little unicorn nuzzled into her mother's chest as she closed her eyes to fall back to sleep. Derpy sat there, rocking her little filly gently in her hooves until her breathing at returned to a steady pace.

If only Derpy could be as relaxed as Dinky was at this moment. The dream had really shaken her up. The only thing Derpy feared most in the world was some pony, or some thing, coming into her life to steal her Dinky away from her. She knew Dinky was not biologically hers, but over the years, she had become one of her own. She just wanted to wrapped her inside her wings and protect her from any harm in this world. However, Derpy knew she was limited in what she could do for her daughter. Even she could not fight off any dark magical creature that may come into their house at night, while she was away. She had no magic of her own to protect Dinky...

But she knew someone who could...


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: A FRIENDLY REQUEST

Twilight Sparkle trotted down the road on her way to Rarity's house. She had promised to deliver some books on early Equestrian folk attire to Rarity as means of inspiration for a new clothing-line she was designing. She managed to find five decent volumes that would work for Rarity, and had them placed in a saddle pouch which she carried on her back.

She began to hum that little tune she recalled hearing from the Winter Wrap-Up celebration as she came upon a small thicket on the road. As she passed by the shrubs lining the path, she had the strange feeling that some pony was observing her every move. She stopped humming and perked up her ears, listening. She only heard the faint brushing of the leaves from the wind and nothing more. So she resumed her trot gleefully...

WHAM! Twilight felt something pounce from behind her, causing her to spiral down onto the road in a great frenzy. The books she was carrying on her saddle went flying everywhere. Some pony, or some thing, had pinned her to the ground and was pressing down on her with their hooves. When she regained her consciousness, she found herself looking up at a gray pegasus looming over her with a slanted stare.

"DEPRY!" hollered Twilight, nearly ready to hurtle the pegasus against a tree with anger. "What in Equestria are you doing!?"

"Twilight!" gasped Derpy. "Magic! You teach me magic"

Twilight tried to make sense of what Derpy was saying, let alone trying to get the stars to stop spinning around her head. "What?"

"You need to teach me your magic!" proclaimed Derpy once again, this time, more direct.

"Derpy," sighed Twilight as she shoved the wall-eyed pegasus off of her. "It's not that simple. First off, you're not a unicorn. Therefore, I cannot teach you how to do my magic. Secondly-"

"But you could teach another unicorn, couldn't you? I mean, all unicorns have magic they can use!"

"Yes, but not every unicorn has the same capacity to conduct all levels of magic. I've been trained and mentored how to use my magic, and that is something that doesn't come easily."

"But that one spell..." Derpy stammered as she tried to find the name for it. "That one where you cast some kind of purple bubble over yourself-"

"You mean a force-field?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, that! You can teach another pony how to make that force-field in case some pony was going to snatch them or something like that."

Derpy was running on frantically like a busted gramophone, not making any sense of the words that flew out of her mouth. Twilight tried to studied the lopsided pegasus. Never before had Derpy come seeking Twilight's counsel on magic. Goodness, she never even came to apologize for dropping an anvil, a crate and a piano on Twilight all those months ago. So why was she so keen on having Twilight teach her magic?

Twilight stood up and look sternly at the nervous pegasus. "What is going on, Derpy?"

"Nuttin'!" exclaimed Derpy, trying to sound like she didn't have anything to hide, "I just wanted to know how I could do a force-field spell myself. You know, in case I encounter any manticores in the Ever Free Forest on my mail route."

"Derpy," said Twilight shaking her head. "You're Ponyville's mail pony. You hardly ever deliver anything tothe Ever Free Forest."

Derpy nervously bit her lip as she tried coming up with a new excuse, but could find none. It was then that Twilight trotted up to her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. Twilight's look was calming and reassuring to Derpy. "I know you're not telling me something, Derpy. What is it? You can trust me."

Derpy gave off a long sigh. She was afraid this day would come, when all of Ponyville would discover her secret. Obviously, she knew Dinky couldn't remain a mystery to every pony. It would not be long when Dinky would eventually be prancing around in public, and all the town would put the pieces together and learn the truth. However, if there was any pony she wanted to know about Dinky first, she guess Twilight was the most trustworthy of them all.

The pegasus stopped flapping her wings and lowered herself to the ground. She looked up at Twilight with sunken eyes. "Come with me. There's something I need to show you."

It wasn't long before they reached Derpy's house. It wasn't too far off of the path, but it did take Twilight out of the city limits of Ponyville and into the heather glen by the river. Twilight knew she had to get those books to Rarity's by midday, but Derpy seemed so intent to show whatever she needed to show Twilight that it seemed almost rude to not follow. They both arrived at the wooden-chestnut door leading into Derpy's home. Before Derpy showed Twilight inside, she spun around and look directly at the purple unicorn.

"Now listen here, Twilight Sparkle." Derpy's voice was unusually firm and assertive, almost like she was command an severe order to Twilight. "What I'm about to show you, no pony must ever know."

Twilight was quite perplexed about how defensive Derpy was being towards her. It was a side that she had never seen before. "Derpy, I'm not sure I understa-"

"You have to give me your word that you won't tell any pony what I'm going to show you."

"I don't even know-"

"Promise me!"

Twilight sighed. There was no use trying to get any word out of the bumbling pegasus. "I promise."

Derpy pushed the door open and led Twilight inside the warm hollow of her home. This was the first time Twilight ever stepped hoof inside Derpy's house, so the experience was a little overwhelming and intriguing to her. She took note of Derpy's interior decor. Quaint and simple, nothing fancy to show; but there was something strange about this dwelling. It didn't seem like it was arranged for one pony to live in.

"Derpy," asked Twilight, "what exactly is it that you wanted me to see..."

"MOMMY!" squeaked a tiny voice from down the hall. "YOU'RE HOME!"

The little voice caught Twilight by surprise. When she spun around again, she found herself staring at a little pink unicorn with a yellow mane bounding from behind the corner of the hall with a beaming smile on her face. When the little unicorn saw Twilight standing there in the living room, she immediately stopped in her tracks and crouched back in fear.

Dinky never saw another pony come home with her mom before, and seeing Twilight for the first time made her nervous. Her ears folded back in fear as she looked to her mom for some kind of reassurance: "Mommmy...?"

"It's okay, Muffin," Derpy smiled at the little terrified filly. "This is a friend of mommy's. Twilight, this is Dinky."

Twilight didn't know what to say. She didn't even know how to respond. For once in her life, the purple unicorn was speechless. It wasn't the realization that Derpy was taking care of this filly by herself that came as a surprise to her; it was hearing the tiny unicorn call Derpy "mommy" that left her dumbfounded. There was never any rumor or indication that Derpy was or ever had been married to any pony in Ponyville, and now, Twilight was standing before what appeared to be... her daughter!

As her head raced with a million questions with no ends in sight, Twilight was alarmed when the little unicorn stood up and started trotting towards her. Dinky stared up at Twilight with her big, golden eyes and took notice of Twilight's horn. A smile came back to Dinky's face: "You're a unicorn!" she uttered. "Just like me!"

Twilight was caught off-guard by Dinky's excitement and found herself smiling as well: "Yes, I am."

The little filly started bouncing up and down with glee: "I never seen another unicorn. Mommy said there were lots of them in town. She tells me she sees them everyday."

The little unicorn began making a circle around Twilight, bouncing like . In all this excitement, Twilight managed to glance back at Derpy, who was smiling at the little filly. It was a strange look that Twilight had never seen before on Derpy. She had the look like a mother would have when seeing their foal take their first step, or hearing their first word. For the first time, this pegasus, who had been rumored as one of the most bumbling ponies in all of Equestria,

"Is she going to be my friend too, Mommy?" asked Dinky as she placed her front hooves on Twilight's leg.

Derpy look at Twilight for an answer. Twilight smiled as she returned her glance to Dinky: "Of course I can be your friend."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: NO CLEAR ANSWER

"This cannot be possible..."

Twilight was watching through Derpy's window into the outdoor meadow patch, where Dinky was amusing herself with chasing a butterfly from flower to flower. She was still having a hard time adjusting to this new revelation, that the clumiest pony in all of Ponyville was the mother of this precious little unicorn that no pony had ever seen or knew about.

"What isn't possible?" asked the clueless pegasus as she scampered around the room, picking up Dinky's discarded toys off the floor.

"How can you Derpy, out of all the ponies in Ponyville... be a mother?"

Derpy stopped what she was doing and glared at Twilight. "What are you saying? Are you saying that I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH to be a mother?"

Twilight tried to reword her question before it soon turned into a heated argument. "No, it's not that. It's just... you already have enough work with a full-time job as a mail pony. So you were the last pony I would suspect to be raising a filly all by yourself."

Derpy laughed as she realized what Twilight was implying. "Oh, that's what you meant! Silly me! Well, it's actually not that easy. I have my job delivering the mail, but I make sure Dinky has enough muffins to eat and toys to play with while I'm gone. And then, each evening I make sure I come home early to spend time with my little Muffin, make her dinner, read to her. She's actually learning to read by herself now, isn't that great! But anyway, it's tough but I don't mind. As long as I know she's safe and sound here at home, that's all that matters to me."

"But Derpy..." Twilight stopped herself before asking any further.

"Yes, Twilight?" responded the gray pegasus, looking at Twilight with a cross-eyed stare.

Twilight hesitated before speaking again. It didn't seem her place to ask such a question, especially because she didn't know Derpy as well as the other ponies in Ponyville did. She didn't know her background story, her previous relationships or if she had any, so it all felt rather awkward to her. However, if what Derpy was saying was true, that Dinky was her daughter, then she needed know it straight from Derpy herself:

"Who... who was the father?"

Derpy went even more cross-eyed when Twilight asked her this. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and quickly tried to divert answering the question: "Oh, muffins are dun!" She tripped over a chair as she raced over to the oven to take out a fresh batch of corn-carrot muffins.

Twilight could tell she was avoiding her and asked again: "Derpy, tell me who the father was?"

Derpy still had her back turned to Twilight as she placed the tray of muffins on the window sill. "I better leave them here so that they can cool off. Maybe Dinky might like one-"

Using her magical horn, Twilight levitated Derpy from the kitchen and carried her back to the living room, so that she could look directly at her in the eye. "Who was the father, Derpy!"

Derpy nervously rubbed her shoulder as she casted her eyes to the ground. In a dry voice, she muttered the only answer she could give: "I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'!" exclaimed Twilight. "Derpy, you know how foals are born, right?"

"Well, of course I do, silly," chuckled Derpy. "When a mommy pony and a daddy pony meet and decide to-"

"Right, so we both know," so who was he?"

"That's what I'm saying," said Derpy shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know."

Twilight was getting really frustrated now. It was one thing to be oblivious to answering the question at hand, but this was ridiculous. "How can you not know, Derpy? Do you have any idea how stupid you sound? Are you saying you don't know because you're afraid to tell who it was who-"

Over Twilight'sshouts, Derpy was able to raise her voice: "I DON'T KNOW BECAUSE SHE'S NOT MY FILLY!"

The room went dead silent. Twilight stared at the gray pegasus, confused and alarmed. "What?"

Derpy realized what she had just said and tried to correct herself. "No, what I meant was... Dinky isn't my filly. Oh, wait that still didn't sound right."

"How else is it suppose to sound?" asked Twilight. She could tell how was more confused: her or Derpy.

"No, you don't understand, Twilight. Dinky is my filly, but she isn't at the same time."

Twilight looked even more perplexed. "That still doesn't make any sense, Derpy."

There was only one way Derpy could explain this clearly to Twilight: she would have to tell her the whole story, from the very beginning. "Maybe you should sit down," advised Derpy to the purple unicorn. "This might take a while to explain."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH ABOUT DINKY

_(This next part was inspired by a deviantART comic from Beavernator called "The Lesser-Known Tale of Dinky Hooves", in case any of you were wondering...)_

Derpy took a deep breath before she started. Twilight could tell this wasn't going to be an easy story for her to tell. "Okay, here it goes...

"_It was during my first year as a mail pony. I was still new at the job, and not very good at it. I kept getting lost or losing letters along my flights. It took some time, but eventually I was able to map out a routine for me to follow each day. Even the post office was kind enough to let me take a small route during my first year. They knew I had a hard time remembering places and addresses, so they would stickers of the faces of the ponies I was to deliver the letters to to make it easier. Pretty soon, I was able to fly and navigate all over Ponyville without losing a single letter, or without needing the little face stickers._

"_One day, I was assigned to deliver some packages to IronCliff. It's an industrial park on the east side of Equestria, where there are a lot of factories and warehouses. Anyway, I had to deliver this large package to a hardware store. When I arrived, I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I checked to see inside the window, but there was a big sign blocking my view that said "Sorry, We're Closed". I guess at the time, I didn't realize most stores weren't open on Sundays, or that mail ponies weren't suppose to deliver mail on Sundays. After the last knock, I gave up and left the package there at the stoop. I was about to fly off when I heard something strange. It sounded like a muffled wheezing sound but I couldn't make out where it was coming from. Even though I don't have the best eye or flight coordination, as you may know, my hearing is very strong. I can pick up a ladybird three hoof-lengths from here without a problem. And this sound was so faint that any pony walking by wouldn't even hear it on their own. _

"_I looked around, but found no pony in sight. It was only me, the package... and one dumpster standing a good rock-toss away from me. I don't know why I thought about looking inside the dumpster in the first place, but something told me to. So I slid that package over to the dumpster and lifted the lid to peer inside. What I saw nearly caused me to collapse over backwards._

"_Inside the dumpster was Dinky. She was only a tiny foal at the time, not even weened yet. She was lying on a trash bag. Her right eye was swollen and bruised, and her left temple was gashed, like it had been cut by something jagged and sharp. Her stomach was sunken in like she had not eaten in days, and she was clutching an empty soda can, still trying to lap up the last of the syrup inside. She was so weak she could barely move; she just laid there, shivering and wheezing._

"_I didn't know what to do. I was so petrified from shock that if it hadn't been for that package I was standing on, I would have buckled under my own back hooves and had fainted. It was unbelievable that some pony would abandon Dinky at that age in a dumpster, or even ever think of doing such a thing. Just the thought of it still makes me angry._

"_It wasn't long before little Dinky realized someone was watching her. I didn't want her to see me, but at the same time, I could move. She looked up at me with her tiny black eyes, dripping with tears, like she was begging for my help. I couldn't leave her there, I just couldn't..._

"_So I reach in and scooped her up into my hooves. Immediately, she started to cry. I never had dealt with a crying foal before, so my first reaction was sheer panic. Then I remembered something - the muffin in my back pouch. I had brought it from home as a mid-afternoon snack. Quickly I snatched it out and presented it to her, but she wouldn't take it. I desperately tried shoving it into her mouth as means to saying it was hers to eat, but it didn't work. She only cried louder. _

"_I was growing desperate. I needed to do something. From the way she was wheezing with every cry and gasp she took, she could exhaust her tiny lungs and die. _

"_Then it hit me: little foals don't have teeth to chew big food. _

"_I quickly shoved the muffin into my mouth and started munching on it until it turned into a soft mush. I spat it out into my hoof and offered it to Dinky. She finally had calmed down enough to notice and smell the muffin-mush on my hoof. Slowly, she began to nibble at it, taking small mouthfuls and swallowing them. Soon, she had devour it all, so I spat out the rest of the mush and fed it to her. She ended up eating the whole thing._

"_Once she was done, she started to cry again. This nearly sent me off the edge. I already fed her, what else could I do? Then I remembered: baby foals need to be burped after eating. So I patted Dinky on her back and she gave a great big bleach. She sighed contently as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. She closed her eyes and snuggled into my hooves for warmth, falling quickly to sleep._

"_I just sat there, holding her in my hooves as she laid sound asleep. For some reason, I didn't want to move from that spot near the dumpster. The whole world seemed to vanish for that moment, and all I could think about was her, lying there, smiling in her sleep. It was then at that moment, I wanted her to be mine. I wanted to keep her as my own... as my own filly. My little muffin..."_

Derpy paused as she looked up at Twilight again. The purple pony sat there with large tears streaming down her face. Never in her life had Twilight heard such a sad, depressing story. Even though Derpy told it in such a childish manner, it still did not make it less emotional.

Twilight nodded for Derpy to continue.

"Ever since then, I've done all that I could do to raise Dinky the best way I knew how. I know I should have told some pony about this a long time ago, but I was afraid. I mean, I know how every pony thinks of me. If they knew that I was taking care of a little filly all by myself..."

Twilight tried to choke back her tears before speaking: "I understand, Derpy. But... why didn't you tell some pony who was close to you? A friend or a relative?"

"My family doesn't have strong ties with me anymore," Derpy muttered, "and well... I don't have many friends. So who could I turn to?"

There were still many questions that Twilight needed to ask Derpy, so many and yet so little time: "But Derpy, how long do you plan to keep Dinky a secret from Ponyville? I mean, she's going to discover there is more to Equestria than what is beyond her front door. Plus, she will have to go to school eventually."

"But she doesn't have to!" blurted out Derpy. "She's learning so much on her own. And I have been teaching her how to read."

"But she's going to have to learn how to conjure magic with her horn. That's something you cannot teach her..."

"Which is why I was hoping you could do that. I mean, you're a smart unicorn, Twilight, and you're really good at magic. You could teach her..."

"Derpy, really think about this!"

"I have!" Derpy nearly shook the house with her voice. "For five years, I've had to think of how to look after her. For five years, I've worried about her safety. For five years, I've wondered if I can really protect her from all the dangers of the world out there. I know she misses me when I'm gone. I know she gets scared every time I leave for work, that she thinks I may abandoned her and never come back. It breaks my heart to know that I can't be there for her all the time. I want nothing but the best for her, because she deserves it. She deserves all the love I can give her, but there is only so much I can do. And even though she isn't my own by birth, she still means the world to me."

Derpy had to wipe the tears from her eyes before she could look directly at Twilight again. The purple unicorn was silent during most of Derpy's rant, but while she wanted to reason more logically about the situation, she could not find herself disagreeing with what Derpy said. She knew that any mother in Derpy's position would have said the same thing.

"Well," spoke up Twilight again. "What do you want me to do?"

"Help me," begged Derpy. "Help me to teach Dinky how to find her own magic. I cannot teach her to protect herself, but I know you can. I mean, you are the key to the Elements of Harmony. There's nothing you can't do."

Twilight sighed for she knew Derpy was asking so much from her. She already was swamped enough during the week with maintaining the library, writing to the Princess, keeping up with her lessons, and encountering any new problems in Equestria. However, she could tell that Derpy would have never asked for Twilight's help unless she really needed it.

"Alright," nodded Twilight, "I will help Dinky find her magic."

"OH, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" squealed Derpy as she flew over to hug Twilight. "You don't know how much this means to me-"

"But it will have to be every other day," said Twilight sternly, "and only for an hour. Any longer than that, and the other ponies will start growing suspicious. Even Spike will know something's up. So if you want me to help keep Dinky a secret, it's going to have to be this way."

"Yes, yes, oh yes!" squealed the pegasus even louder. "That would be perfect."

It was at that moment that Dinky came into the room through the front door. Seeing her little filly, Derpy flew over and scooped Dinky into her hooves for a big hug. Other than the day she found Dinky, Derpy had never been so happy in her entire life.

Twilight glanced away to check the clock. "OH NO! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT RARITY'S OVER AN HOUR AGO!" Gathering her saddle-pack, Twilight rushed out of the house and galloped down the path back to Ponyville.

"THANKS A LOT, TWILIGHT!" screamed Derpy as she waved at the unicorn galloping away. "SEE YOU TOMORROW!"

Dinky stared a little blankly up at her mother. She didn't understand why her mommy was so giddy all of the sudden, but it made her smile to see her mommy this happy. It had been a while since Derpy was this happy.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: KEEPING PROMISES

Twilight couldn't get to sleep that night. Her whole day had taken a different toll since that morning's discovery. At first, she had no idea what she had promised to Derpy, but the realization had finally sunken in as she laid there on her bed.

She had been asked by Derpy to help teach Dinky how do learn magic.

Before today, Twilight had never been close friends or aquintances with Derpy. They never even shared anything in common; and now, Twilight was not only obliged to keep Derpy's daughter a secret from all of Equestria, but she was recruited to be Dinky's private mentor. It was one thing to be summoned by the Princess for an unexpected mission, but this is Derpy! The clumsy mail pony of Ponyville who had never had the best flying abilities or motor-skills. Twilight already had enough trying to learn transformation spells on her own; how in Celestia's name was she going to be able to teach that little unicorn all that there is about magic? Oh, why did Derpy have to stop her that morning? Why couldn't it have been any other pony besides her?

Come to think of it, was there any pony in Ponyville that was friends with Derpy?

Twilight sat up in bed as she pondered about this. Every pony knew Derpy, but did any of them really talk to her? Did any pony really spend time with her, visited her on occassion? How could any pony know if she needed help raising Dinky, if every pony never stops to talk to her on a regular basis? Could it be that the one pony that every pony tried to avoid, was also one no pony ever lent a helping hoof to when she deseprately needed it?

Twilight glanced over at Spike who was curled up in his basket by her bedside, snoozing as usual. How many times had Spike been there for her, or when she was there for him? If there was one thing she was so grateful for, it was having a friend always beside her when she really needed one.

Did Derpy have any pony like that in her life? Probably not... except for Dinky.

_I have to keep my promise to her_, Twilight thought to herself. _If not for Derpy's sake, then at least for Dinky's._

* * *

Earlier that evening, Dinky was served a plate of muffins by her mother. Every night, it was always the same thing for supper: muffins. Although it was the only thing Derpy knew how to cook, Dinky would at times sneak in a clover or a sweet daisy from under the table to nibble on when her mother wasn't looking.

"Now, make sure you eat all of that muffin," ordered Derpy. "You don't want to ruin your appetite."

"I won't, Mommy!" squeaked the little unicorn. Derpy had noticed that while five minutes had gone by, Dinky had not taken at least one bite of her muffins. Instead, she kept staring down at the table, a forlorn look in her eyes.

"Mommy," she finally spoke up, "why don't I have wings like you?"

Derpy gawked at the little filly with a blank stare. She was afraid her daughter would eventually ask her this question; she just didn't know how she would respond to it. "Muffin, what brought this to your mind?"

The little unicorn prodded at the muffin lying on her plate. "Well, when Twilight came today... and I saw she was a unicorn, like me. I was happy and she was really nice... but seeing her also made me..."

"Sad?" said Derpy, helping her finish her sentence.

The little unicorn nodded somberly.

"Oh Muffin, there's nothing to be sad about. You're the best daughter any mother could ask for..."

"But I'm not like you. I don't have wings like you..."

"Well, that's because you have a horn, and that's what makes you even more special. And Twilight is going to teach you how to use-"

"I don't want to be special, Mommy!" stammered the little filly. "I-I want to be like... you!"

Derpy stopped talking as she realized what her daughter was saying. She could already see tears forming underneath Dinky's bluging eyes.

"Oh Muffin..." she said as she tried to comfort her filly. "I know you don't like it when I leave home every day. I don't like leaving you here alone as well. But I always promise to be back before sundown. That way, I can read to you, and we can play games together..."

"But I miss you when you're gone," sobbed the little filly. "Why can't I fly like you? So that I can fly with you."

Little teardrops were falling and soaking through the muffin on her plate. Dinky felt her mother pull her close with her wing and hugged her tenderly. It broke Derpy's heart to hear her daughter cry like this; and as much as she wanted to spend the whole day with her daughter, she had a job to keep. Also, she did not want to have all of Ponyville see her with Dinky in broad daylight. At the same time, she recalled what Twilight said, that eventually, Dinky would want to have some friends of her own. It wasn't right to keep her locked away like all the time, alone with no pony to play with.

That is when Derpy had an idea. It was rare that these ideas came so sudden to Derpy."Tell you what, Muffin? Why don't you come with Mommy tomorrow? Would you like that?"

The filly wiped her tears from her cheeks as she looked up with confusion. "But... how? I can't fly..."

"Well, Mommy has an idea that might just work. But you have to promise me something..."

"Anything!" squeaked the little filly, already getting excited about the possibility of flying.

"You need to always stay out of sight, okay? You need to promise Mommy that you won't let any pony see you."

Dinky was a little confused by this request. "But why?"

"Just promise me."

Dinky nodded her head gleefuly. "I promise."

"That's my muffin!" said Derpy as she nussled her head with happiness. "Now make sure you eat everything on your plate."

"Yes, Mommy."


End file.
